The War of the Ancients
by Franz082011
Summary: The third installment to the Loving Hope Chronicles
1. New Beginnings

A Loving Hope Chronicles

The War of the Ancients

New Beginnings

It had been a couple of months since the 3rd Street Saints had defeated the Syndicate and STAG, the boss did the most reasonable thing he thought possible during the final battle. On his way to save Shaundi, Viola, and the mayor he passed by a Friendly Fire and grabbed a RC possessor so that he would be able to take control of KillBane's private jet and just kill him that way. After he saved his fellow Saints, he and Viola hijacked a Specter and chased him down, he didn't die by the crash so when the Boss and Viola landed next to the crash site they decided to beat him to death. KillBane dared the Boss to kill him but instead he smirked, turned around, and said, "Take your time, Viola."

Viola turned to him and said, "Thanks."

She could finally get revenge on KillBane for what he did to her sister and she was going to make him pay for every ounce of suffering she felt. The Boss was watching nearby holding his signature pistols just in case KillBane got in position to hurt Viola. After Viola finished with her torturing of KillBane, KillBane said he enjoyed looking at Kiki's dead, lifeless body and watching Viola be helpless to save her. After hearing this comment, she snapped. She began crying and had kicked KillBane's genitals with all her force, she then asked the Boss for his Nocturne which he gave without hesitation, and she began to cut KillBane up limb for limb. All that was left of him was his head and torso but before she did the final execution, she reached for her phone, pulled of KillBane's mask, and took a photo to post on the internet. KillBane was enraged by this and was cursing at Viola for this but he was cut off in the middle of it by Viola, literally.

"Thanks." she said to the Boss.

"Sometimes people need closure before they can get over things. I know your sister was really important for you, but just know the Saints and especially me will always be here when you need anything." the Boss said.

Viola was still tearing but was happy that she had people who cared about her. She wiped her eyes saying, "Thanks."

As she said that, the Boss' black and purple Attrazione came driving up while he said, "Come on, I'll take you out on a dinner date." he said.

She nodded in approval and sat in the passenger seat of the sports car while the Boss drove them around the city. He stopped by the Saints' HQ so that the two of them could clean up before heading out to dinner. When they arrived at the penthouse, they saw Pierce and Oleg continuing their game of chess while Kinzie watched, they saw Shaundi arguing with Josh, and Angel talking with Zimos and some of the Saints. As he and Viola began walking up the steps the heard Pierce calling out to them.

"Hey Boss! Boss! Where you goin'?" Pierce asked.

"I got a date tonight." he replied.

"For real? We just finished our war with the Syndicate and STAG how did you get a date that fast?" asked Pierce.

"I just did, ok?" he replied as he and Viola began walking up the steps again.

"Hey Viola where you going? You got a date too?" asked Pierce as he laughed.

"I actually do unlike some of us who have nothing else to do except play with our toys." she shot back.

"Damn girl, relax. So who's your date with? Right or left? Or are you going to be playing with your toys tonight too?" Pierce said dying of laughter.

"Pierce fu-" Viola said before getting cut off by the Boss.

"She's going on a date with me Pierce." he said calmly.

"Are you for real? Why?" asked Pierce.

"Well, me and Viola are hungry, and we decided to grab some food." he said as he motioned for her to go and get ready.

"So can we come?" Shaundi asked as she arrived with an irriated voice.

"We could go on a double date!" Josh added.

"NO! Josh fuck off!" Shaundi replied.

"Oleg, Kinz you two said you were hungry, right? So can we go or what Boss?" Pierce asked.

"I could eat." Kinzie said.

"I am quite famished since our battle." Oleg added.

"So where are we going?" Shaundi asked.

"Everyone shut the fuck up! Me and Viola are going to go out to dinner, its nothing romantic were just hungry. Besides we already made reservations but only for two." the Boss said as he walked off.

All the Saints in the penthouse got quite after they heard the Boss yell. Majority of the lieutenants had decided to leave the two alone to do whatever but Shaundi was interested in knowing what was going on, she decided to enter the Boss' room to ask him about it in a way that wouldn't make him mad. Besides, the two of them went way back. When she entered the room, she didn't find the Boss in there on his bed, instead she found Viola fully nude pulling some clothes on. Viola noticed the door opening and immediately covered herslef and began yelling.

"Get out!" she screamed.

"Relax, its nothing I've never seen." Shaundi said sounding a little calmer.

She and Viola didn't really talk much but thanks to the Boss' explantion about her not having anything to do with Johnny's death she was a little nicer to her.

"Ohh, hey Shaundi. Could you shut the door?" Viola said feeling a little awkward.

"Hey, so listen. What's going on with you and the Boss?" asked Saundi as she shut the door.

"What are you talking about? We're just going to dinner together, besides he said that he's been meaning to talk to me about some business stuff." she said plainly as she pulled on her skirt, sweater, and leggings.

"Are you lying?" Shaundi asked.

"No." Viola answered as she put her heels on.

"Well, what do you think of the Boss?" asked Shaundi while she marveled at Viola's body.

"He seems really nice, he gives everyone a second chance to change. I can tell he really cares about all his Saints." Viola replied while pulling her hair into a ponytail.

"Oh, so do you think he-" Shaundi said before the Boss walked out of his bathroom.

"Out Shaundi." he commanded to her.

"It's fine, we're just talking. Hurry up though, we're gonna be late." Viola said.

"Alright, give me five to ten minutes and I'll be out." he replied before walking back into the bathroom.

"So what were you about to ask me?" Viola asked Shaundi.

"Nothing, I should go. Have fun on your date." she said before leaving the room.

As she left, the Boss stepped out of the bathroom and asked Viola if she was ready to go. She replied that she was and the two walked out of the room and went straight for the elevator. When they got to the garage the Boss let Viola pick which car they would take to go on their date. She chose the Attrazione and the two drove off to dinner. As they arrived at the restaurant, they began talking about finances and business but found themselves drifting from that subject and beginning to talk about personal things.

"Haha, I remember the whole zombie outbreak thing and how much you freaked out." the Boss said laughing.

"Yeah, that's funny. I also remember saving your ass when your mask broke." she said.

"Alright, I guess we're even." he replied.

"Actually no, you let me join the Saints, protected me, and helped me find closure for what happened to my sister. I actually owe you." Viola said thanking him.

"Don't worry about it, besides I've lost a lot of people I was really close to also." he said.

The rest of the night was like that, the two of them talking, sharing stories, sharing laughs, and bonding. They spent the next three hours like this before leaving the restaurant. The Boss decided to drop Viola home and she gladly accepted his offer.

"So where exactly do you live?" he asked as the two entered the car.

"Safeword, the penthouse to be exact." she said.

The car ride was similar to the dinner, just the two of them talking about their life's ups and downs and special moments. When they arrived at Safeword, Viola thanked him for the ride and gave him a kiss on the cheek. The Boss smiled as she exited the car, halfway up the steps to the door, she turned around and asked the Boss if he wanted to come up to talk some more. He agreed and the two entered Safeword together. When they arrived at Viola's room, they both sat on the bed and talked even more about their lives. They were having such a great time together and when the Boss looked down at his watch he noticed that it was extremely late and decided he'd leave pretty soon. A lot more time passed by and the Boss realized he liked hearing Viola's voice and learning so much about her. She felt the same but neither one would say anything.

"Hey, I had a lot of fun but i think its time i head out." he said.

"Yeah, I did too. We should do this again." she said smiling.

"Yeah." he said.

The two of them stood there staring at each other. It had felt like forever to the two of them and there was no denying that they were falling for each other but the question was who was going to break first. Finally, the Boss broke. He leant in and gave Viola a very passionate kiss which she gladly returned. They had been kissing for about ten minutes when finally the Boss pulled away.

"I should go now." he said nervously.

"I'll walk you down." Viola said blushing.

There was a silence as the two entered the elevator, Viola knew that she should've just let him go but she liked being around him. The two of them said their goodbyes when they arrived at the garage. Before leaving, Viola gave him another kiss before he drove off. She returned to her penthouse suite and was as giggily as a schoolgirl. She was very resentful about it but she couln't hide it, she had a crush on the Boss. The Boss felt the same for her but was able to handle it just a little bit better.

The next day, Shaundi woke up and got ready for the day. When she finished she drove over to the Saints' HQ and buzzed Pierce to let her in. She and Pierce talked briefly about what they were going to do for the day until Shaundi finally noticed something.

"Where's the Boss?"

"He's probably still asleep, he got in really late last night." Pierce responded.

"Really, why?" she asked.

"Dunno, didn't bother to ask. You know why?" he asked.

"Why?" se replied.

"Its none of our damn businss." he said.

"I just wanna know, get the fuck off my damn case." Shaundi said.

"So you aren't jealous?" asked Pierce sarcastically.

"NO! GOD DAMN! I've known the Boss for a really long time, he's like a brother to me." she said in resentment.

"I know, I know. Relax girl." Pierce said.

Then they both heard footsteps and turned to see the Boss wearing a Saints tee and some jeans. They asked him where he was going and he responded that he was going to get breakfast with Viola. Shaundi and Pierce looked at each other, then asked if they could tag along and were surprised to hear a "yes" but even more shocked that it was Viola's idea to invite them. The three of them headed out to meet Viola at the cafe. The four of them had a rather good time and Shaundi and Pierce began to notice a connection between the Boss and Viola. They had a lot of inside jokes which really indicated to Shaundi and Pierce that they might've liked each other.

Later that day, Pierce and Shaundi had left to go do their own thing and the Boss and Viola decided to go to her suite again. When they got there it was already really late and instead of talking the whole time, the two spent majority of the time kissing each other. It was getting really late again and the Boss decided it was time for him to go.

"I had lots of fun, but I should really be going now." he said.

Viola retaliated by grabbing onto him as he sat up from the bed, "No, you shouldn't." she said sounding like a little girl.

"She's so cute!" he thought to himself. "Where am I gonna stay then Viola?" he asked her.

"Stay with me, please." she begged pulling on a puppy face.

"How could I resist a face like that?" he asked.

"You can't." she said smiling as the two began exploring each other's body even more than before.

The next thing both of them knew they were both completely nude and the Boss was right outside Viola's beautiful entrance. Suddenly, he stopped, thought, and pulled away. Viola was getting self conscious, "What's wrong? Did I do something wrong? Oh my god, did I forget to shave?" she thought to herself.

"What's wrong?" she finally spoke to the Boss who was sitting at the edge of her bed.

"Viola, it's not what you think, I really want this but I want you to be more than just another one of those girls and I wanna be more than just one of those guys to you." he said.

"Alright, I can wait." she said chuckling.

"I'm really sorry." he said.

"Trust me, its no big deal." she said happy to hear that she did mean something to him.

"Okay, any way I can make it up to you?" he asked.

"Yeah, a couple things actually." she said.

"What?" he asked.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Well, I guess I could tell you. Brent Andrews. You can't tell anyone else." he said.

"Wow, that's a really guyish name." she said.

"Haha, thanks. What else do you want?" he asked.

"Well, we can't have sex so cuddle with me while we sleep." she asked.

"Don't put your clothes on." she added when she noticed him reach for his pants.

"Haha, alright." he said as he and Viola began cuddling up before going to bed.


	2. Under New Management

A Loving Hope Chronicles

The War of the Ancients

Under New Management

The next morning, Viola woke up to the smell of brewing coffee. She saw a note on her dresser and decided to go and get it. She grabbed the Boss' tee shirt that was still on the bed and wore only that. She walked over to the dresser and saw that it was from the Boss.

"Morning Viola. I got called to go deal with some stuff with Pierce, it's nothing big. I didn't want to wake you because you looked so calm while you were asleep. I'll see you later, call or text if you need anything." the card read.

She looked to the bottom and saw, "Love, Brent." She was kind of sad to see that he had left already because she was planning on spending another day together with him but she knew that since he declared Steelport and Stilwater a city-state that he would've been busy this way all the time. She looked at her clock and realized it was about time for breakfast, she walked downstairs and made breakfast for herself. In the middle of her eating, she heard a ringing from her phone. She saw that it was a text from the Boss.

"Morning beautiful." she read.

"Hey baby." she wrote back.

"How are you?" she read again.

"Sad and it's all your fault." she replied.

"What did I do? I'm sorry." he sent as quick as possible.

"You left. ='(" she said.

"Aww, I'm sorry but I had to help Pierce with some political stuff." he said.

"It's fine, but where are you?" she replied.

Before she got a reply, she turned because she heard the elevator ding. She was glad to see who it was and quickly ran over to give him a hug. "Hey, you." she said.

"Hey, did you miss me?" Brent said giving her a kiss.

"Yeah, kinda." she said still hugging him.

"What did Pierce need you for?" she added.

"He needed some help 'convincing' the SNG and police that he was the new mayor." he said.

"You said it was nothing big!" she said releasing him from the hug.

"It wasn't." he said laughing.

"Whatever." she said as she rolled her eyes.

"So... Umm..." she started.

"What?" Brent asked.

"What are we? I mean, what are we gonna say when people ask about us?" she asked nervously.

"Vi, that was just a one time thing... I'm really sorry." he said.

She was so hurt by this, she couldn't believe that he didn't feel the same way she did. Then she noticed his smirk on his face, "He's lying!" she thought to herself being extremely relieved.

"Asshole! Your lying!" she screamed at him.

"Haha, yeah I am. But seriously though, I don't know what to say... I guess were in a relationship but if you don't want that its okay." he said.

"No, I want that." she said giving him another kiss.

Brent then noticed how little her breakfast was, it was just two slices of bread and a cup of coffee. He decided to take her to the Saint's HQ so that they could order food for everyone there. When they got there, they arrived holding hands and not many of his Saints said much but when he got to the couch area he saw a lot of faces staring.

"Wow, so I guess it was more than just business." Pierce said.

"Ha! I told you so, pay up!" Shaundi said victoriously.

"Wait, unless this is just business." Pierce added.

"Fuck off, Pierce." Viola shot back.

Pierce raised his hands in the air showing that he surrendered and then spoke, "I'm happy for you two, can't say I didn't see it coming."

As Shaundi walked passed them, she congradulated both of them and then whipsered to Viola that she was one of the Boss' first girlfriends and not just another one of his hoes. Viola and Brent thanked her and then the Boss asked all the Saints at the penthouse what they wanted for breakfast. He said to give their orders to Pierce who was going to be picking up all the food.

"Boss, how could I carry fifty orders of food? It won't fit in the Criminal." Pierce said confused as to what to do.

The Boss didn't even respond he just tossed Pierce a key and Pierce was full of joy. Viola noticed this and asked him what it was, he responded, "The keys to the Condor."

About an hour later, Pierce returned and landed on the helipad. A bunch of Saints walked outside to help Pierce carry in all the food. Finally, when Pierce came in with the final order, he began handing it out. After all the Saints had finished eating, the Boss spoke.

"Alright, everyone listen up. The Luchadores and Deckers are still threatening us, we have to finish them off once and for all. Let's do it for Johnny!" he said.

"For Johnny!" they all replied.

A couple of weeks later, the Saints were once again victorious. Only the Morning Star was left but the Morning Star weren't being hostile to the Saints. The Steelport National Guard and Steelport Police Department had submitted to the Saints because majority of the populace had been on the Saints side because they did save the city from the STAG and the Daedalus. Also, since Pierce had become the mayor he instilled a "with us or against us" mindset in the people. Brent was merciful enough to permit all those who oppose the Saints to leave the city. The Saints absorbed the SNG and SPD just as they had absorbed Ultor.

"Johnny was right..." Brent said to Viola as they drove around the city.

"Right about what?" she asked.

"The Saints aren't just a gang anymore, we've changed to become something different." he said.

"Well, the Saints had to evolve in order to survive. Do you really think that if the Saints had stayed as just another one of those street gangs that they would've had the funds or the man power to take down the Syndicate?" Viola replied.

"Still though... I mean movie deals, commercials, endorsements, and now were becoming a government." Brent said.

"Okay, ditch the movie deals, endorsements, and commercials. Then after a while every member of the Saints' bank accounts will all go dry, the fame you all have will turn to infamy, and then you'll lose all you ever had." Viola said as she grabbed a K-8 Krukov from the backseat of Brent's Bootlegger.

"Point taken." he replies as he pulls out his .45 Shepards and steps out of the car.

"So what are we doing here?" Viola asked.

"Got a tip that some STAG are still present around this area, I want them out." Brent replied while scanning the area with his eyes.

"Fair enough, so this is what we've come to, huh?" Viola asked him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"These are our dates now? Shooting at foreign government operatives, I'm not complaining but its not exactly my dream date, you know." she said as she signaled to him that she found the STAG stragglers.

"We'll talk about this after we kill those guys, okay?" he asked before he went darting off to the STAG camp.

"Well, at least he's ambitious." she said before running in to join him.

As they finished off what seemed to have been the last of STAG, they returned to their previous conversation but it was cut short because a couple of Crusaders had appeared. They were hell bent on murdering the two Saints and had them pinned down behind an old metal crate. Viola couldn't think of any way to get them out of the situation but luckily, the Boss thought ahead.

"Pierce, bring in our back up." Brent said over his bluetooth.

"Gotcha boss, you want the tanks or choppers?" he asked.

"Surprise me." he said as 3 SWAT Tornados began unloading their weaponry on the two tanks.

After the final tank was taken down, the Boss and Viola went back to their car and drove back to the HQ. On the ride back, they discussed their current relationship and how they weren't going on dates anymore, Brent said that he was doing his best but couldn't just ignore his responsibilities. It wasn't a fight but nonetheless it was an arguement. This continued up until they arrived at the penthouse.

"I'm doing my best to make time for you, but you can't just expect me to drop everything just to talk to you over the phone. Besides, I'm always with you all you have to do is talk to me." Brent said as he parked the car.

"What if it's something personal? I can't do it over the phone, Kinzie could be listening and I can't do it in person because were always shooting at something when were together. What happen to the movie dates and dinner dates together?" Viola complained as they got to the elevator.

"I'm doing my best Vi, I'm sorry." he said as the elevaor arrived at their floor.

"Hey, now this isn't how the happy couple is supposed to be. Come on both of you just need a drink or two, hell if you want just take a couple of bottles." Shaundi said trying to alleviate the tension between the two.

"Actually, I had another idea." said Brent as he got down on one knee.

Suddenly, the penthouse's light all turned off and only two lights remained, one on the Boss and one on Viola. "Oh my god, what is he doing?!" she thought to herself. Then she finally spoke, "What are you doing?".

"Vi, I know we've only been dating for a couple of weeks but I've loved you for months, the past couple of weeks have been hard but we've been together for two years and the reason why I've been really busy lately is so we could end all this fighting at least for a while so I could do this. So with that said, Viola DeWynter, will you marry me?" Brent asked.

"Oh my god, it all makes sense now! The fucker tricked me!" she thought.

"Yes! A zillion times YES!" she screamed while tearing out of joy.

Brent then put the ring on her finger and stood up to give her a hug. She was so overcame with joy that she jumped on him wrapped her legs around him and gave him a long passionate kiss. It lasted for only a couple of seconds but when they broke the kiss, everyone was clapping and congratulating them. Shaundi, Jenny, Kinzie, and Tera were all congratulating Viola on her engagement while Pierce, Angel, Oleg, Zimos, and Josh were talking about a bachelor party. It was mostly Pierce, Zimos, and Josh talking about it while Oleg and Angel just praised the Boss for finally doing it.

"So how many strippers are we going to need for this bachelor party?" Pierce asked.

"You can never have to many sexy fine ladies at a paaarrrttyyy!" Zimos said.

Then, it all got quiet at the penthouse. All the Saints looked outside the window to see a massive ship that was probably the length of Steelport, majority of the Saints were freaking out but the Boss remained calm. Viola ran over to him and asked what his plan of attack was but he didn't answer. He just smiled and walked outside much to everyone's concern.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Viola yelled as she pulled him back in.

"Relax, I know who it is." he said as a Pelican landed on the Saints helipad.

Many of the Saints had their guns drawn out and were aiming at the Pelican, the lieutenants were preparing for the worst but the Boss just stood there smiling. He knew exactly what was going on and was ready to finally see the hatch to the Pelican open. Then finally, the hatch opened and within it stood eight heavily armored figures but half of them were a bit smaller than the rest. As the armored figures stepped out of the Pelican, the Boss stepped closer towards them.

"Long time no see." Brent started.

Then one of the smaller figures took the helmet off and smiled at him. "I know, you remember Francis don't you?" asked Gabby.

"Yeah, what's up?" Brent said as he shook Francis' hand after he removed his helmet.

"Brent, how do you know our races' two top heroes from the war?" Viola asked.

"I'm his siser, well half sister to be exact." Gabby said to Viola.

"Who are you?" Gabby added.

"I'm his fiance." she said proudly while hugging him.

"Gabby, this is Viola." Brent said.

Gabby stood there examining Viola for any abnormalities but she couldn't find any, she looked perfect. Gabby congratulated the two on their engagement and asked to speak with Brent and his lieutenants alone. Brent happily obliged and they boarded the Condor while Francis and Gabby along with the other six figures boarded the Pelican. The Pelican and Condor then began a race to the ship but ultimately the Pelican won. When they all arrived at the Infinity-class ship, they were escorted to the meeting area in order to discuss very pressing matters.

"What do you mean we can't run Steelport and Stilwater? Who's gonna stop us?" Brent said in retaliation.

"Us." Francis said.

"Brent, why don't you listen to the rest of what we have to say." Gabby pleaded.

"Fuc-" was all he said before Viola interrupted.

"Alright, we'll listen." Viola said as all the other lieutenants agreed.

"You can't run Steelport or Stilwater, you are to return it to the United States, the act you have committed is an act of terrorism. We appreciated what you did during the events of the STAG invasion and for that no Saint will be put on trial for terrorism, however we do need you for bigger matters." Francis said.

"What do you mean?" Brent asked.

"As you know, I 'removed' the President of the UEG from power due to his corruption and thus, the president of the United States has risen up to take his spot. The new president is a good leader, he handles all political matters and allows me to deal with all military matters." Francis said.

"How does this concern the Saints?" Oleg asked.

"Before we continue, Ms. Kenzington please stop trying to hack into the ships mainframe." a female voice said.

"Why do you sound so familiar?" Kinzie asked.

"Well, you might've read one of my articles, books, or watched one of my interviews." Cortana said as she removed her helmet.

"Oh my god! Your Cortana Halsey, the A.I turned human! I'm your biggest fan, I'm so sorry for trying to hack into your network." she said.

"Haha, it's fine. You made it the farthest out of all the attempts this ship has had." Cortana said.

"Anyways, returning to the subject. Francis has been given the honor of deciding who the next president of the United States is going to be. He asked me whom I would choose and just as we were considering other candidates, you popped up in our daughter's TV screen about how you saved a city and brought down the Syndicate so we've chosen to elect not just a president but a whole new political party." Gabby said.

"Are you saying..." Viola said.

"Oh my god!" Shaundi added.

"That I'm going to be president." Brent said astounded.

"Damn, from lieutenant in a gang to first lady..." Viola said.

"All that's left is for you absorb STAG as your main security system. Don't worry, we've replaced every former member of the group and put some of my men in there." Francis said.

"Alright. When do we start?" asked Brent.

"Also who's going to run Steelport and Stilwater?" Tera added.

"You can pick whoever to run the two cities." Francis said.

"Alright well that's it, you guys can go." Gabby said.

"Why don't you guys come with us?" Brent asked.

"Um, I think we can come but the others have to return to different battlefields." Gabby said.

"Alright, so you and Francis are coming over? How long can you stay?" asked Brent as he, his lieutenants, and the two war heroes began walking out of the meeting room.

"Uh... Maybe a day at most but hang on were gonna grab a change of clothes before we head out." said Gabby.

"Meet us by your Condor." said Francis.

"Alright." Brent said as he and his lieutenants walked off.

When they arrived there, Brent was bombarded with questions from all of his lieutenants. This drove him crazy but he decided he owed them that much since he never mentioned it before.

"So when exactly were you gonna mention your related to the eight most valuable people in the UEG's military?" Viola asked.

"Well... I was thinking now." he said.

"Boss why didn't you ever call them before? Like during one of our fights?" Pierce asked.

"We didn't need them." he answered.

"Their the most powerful people in our race, you could've at least mentioned it to us." Angel said.

"I agree, it would've been nice to know." Oleg added.

"Well now you know." he said.

"Can I ask your sister to be on my show?" Shaundi asked.

"And can I have Francis on mine?" Josh asked.

"Ask them but umm, Shaundi you want my sister on your show?" Brent asked.

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"Your show's title is, 'I Wanna Sleep With Shaundi'." he asked.

"Umm... I guess she could be like a guest star or something. I don't know." she replied.

"So... what's your sister got to do with that guy in the armor?" Zimos asked.

"That's her husband Z, he'd kill you and basically every Saint in the universe if you tried to get with her." Brent replied laughing.

"So are they serious?" Zimos asked.

"Stay away for your own good, Z." Brent replied just before Gabby and Francis came out.

They then all boarded the Condor back to the Saints' HQ. The whole ride was filled with questions for the two war heroes about the war and what had happened. Then when the arrived, they talked more about war stories but suddenly, Gabby and Francis stopped the conversations.

"Wait, are you guys missing a member?" asked Francis.

"No, why?" Brent replied.

"We found a secret underground bunker from the Syndicate. It contained a body that was frozen, we unfroze him and he's in the Med bay on my ship." Francis said.

"What was his name?" Shaundi asked.

'Um... Johnathan Gat I think." Francis said.

"Can you take us to him?" Pierce asked.

"Right now, no. He's undergoing surgery for a fatal wound in his abdomen but tomorrow you can check him out and if he's your guy we'll release him to you." Francis said.

"Okay, so we'll meet here?" Shaundi asked.

"Yeah." Brent replied.

(Meanwhile Viola and Gabby were in Brent's rooming talking about things)

"Viola, you seem like a very nice girl. I'm glad my brother chose someone with a Masters degree in economics rather than some girl off the streets." Gabby said.

"Thanks, I did run a prostitution ring for the Syndicate though." Viola said.

"Well, it was economical. I'm sorry, I never bothered to hear your last name." Gabby said.

"DeWynter, Viola DeWynter." she said.

Gabby was awestruck, she knew she recognized Viola from somewhere but couldn't quite put her finger on it. "Her sister is Kiki!" she thought to herself.

"Viola, by any chance are you missing a sister?" Gabby asked.

"No, I had a sister that died though, she was my twin. Her name was Kiki." Viola said tearing.

"Keep your head up, I have some important news to tell you." Gabby said as she walked outside to call Francis and Brent into the room.

All the other lieutenants had left already to return to their usual day to day affairs. As the two of them walked up the stairs, they were told to hurry up by the two girls who were walking down the steps to the Condor on the helipad.

"Where are we going?" asked Brent.

"We have to show Viola something." Gabby said.

As the four of them got into the Condor again to head back to the massive ship Brent couldn't help but wonder what was going on, so finally he decided to ask his sister.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"You two are familiar with the fact that the Syndicate cloned Oleg in order to create the Brutes, right?" Gabby asked.

"Yeah?" Viola and Brent replied.

"Well, it appears Mr. Loren cloned Ms. Kiki DeWynter knowing that she was the more courageous one. Loren had her cloned right before he was killed and luckily she was and she replaced her a day after the death of Mr. Loren. She was taken to a secret location in order to maintain her life." Gabby said.

"Well, why wasn't Viola cloned?" Brent asked.

"Loren knew that Viola was more controlled than her sister and that she wouldn'tve given KIllBane reason to kill her." Gabby said.

"So are you saing my sister is alive?" Viola asked.

"Yes, she has remained in the same location albeit under our protection. She has been trying to get us to contact you but we couldn't find you until now." Francis said as they landed on the ship.

"So, where is she?" Brent asked.

"Belgium, hold on we'll be there in about an hour." said Francis as he ordered his ship to make for Belgium.

As Francis and Gabby left Viola and Brent, Brent was having mixed feelings as to how he was going to take having Kiki and Viola reunited. He wasn't sure if Kiki would try and turn Viola away from the Saints and him to return to the Morning Star. He also wasn't sure if she'd pick him over her sister.

"Don't worry, no matter what I'm staying with you but we have to give my sister a chance. It was her idea to leave the Syndicate and to try and bring the Morning Star to join the Saints." Viola said.

"Okay." Brent said.

When they arrived at Belgium, Viola and Brent were brought to see Kiki in a luxury hotel being served by many people. She immediately stood up an came running when she saw Viola still alive and well. Viola also ran up to her sister and the two sisters hugged and shared a moment together. Brent was happy for Viola, she had found her sister.

"Don't worry little bro, she really does love you. She won't turn on you." Gabby said.

Then Viola and Kiki started talking and staring at Brent and Kiki at first was confused but when they walked over, Kiki said to Brent, "You better not hurt my sister, I'm warning you. But other than that welcome to the family."

Brent thanked her and then immediately said, "Thanks Viola, now stop pretending to be Kiki."

Viola smiled at this and Kiki said that he had passed the test. Viola hugged him and told him to give his sister a chance.

"Kiki, so what's your plan? Are you gonna stay with the Morning Star or come to the Saints with you sister?" Brent asked.

"That depends, am I welcome to join the Saints?" Kiki asked.

"Your my fiance's twin sister, she says she wants me to give you a chance so I guess you are welcome to join. But kill one of my Saints and I'll lock you up." Brent said.

"Relax, Viola and I are a package deal, she says she wants to stay a Saint and I'm fine with that. I'm going to support my sister and protect her, she's my main priority." Kiki said.

"Alright then, we have an agreement. Grab your stuff and lets go." Brent said.

"So, what are the chances of me getting a three way tonight?" Brent whispered to Viola.

"Haha, try it and I'll kill you." Viola said smiling at Brent as he and the DeWynter sisters went to grab Kiki's belongings.


	3. Different Expectations

A Loving Hope Chronicles

The War of the Ancients

Different Expectations

"Oh come on, we've only been here for a week and were already acting so different!" Gat scolded.

"Is it so wrong to enjoy ourselves a little Gat?" Brent asked.

"No, you know I've always been first volunteer for fun, but we don't have to lose ourselves." Gat said back.

"I gotta agree with Gat, the Saints aren't the same anymore..." Viola said as she came into the Oval office.

"By the way, there's someone here to see you." she added.

"Alright, who?" Brent asked.

"Me, hey Brent." a feminine voice said.

"Hey! How'd you get here?" Brent asked.

"I'm nineteen, haha." the voice replied.

Gat walked to Brent's side and asked who the girl was, Gat wasn't interested in her anyway because to him she had looked familiar. Viola on the other hand thought of her as one of her fiance's old prostitutes that he messed around with back in the day. She couldn't have been more wrong as to who the woman was, although she had to admit that she was beautiful... Even by Shaundi's standards apparently.

"Viola, who's the supermodel with Brent?" Shaundi asked as she walked in to give the president a confidential folder.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out then send the bitch home." she thought to herself. She walked up to Brent and the woman who was still in his arms and introuced herself, "Excuse me, hi. I'm Viola DeWynter, and that's my fiance your hugging for a couple of seconds too long."

"You tell her, Vi." Shaundi said.

"Oh come on Aunt Shaundi, you don't recognize me? Not even you Uncle Gat?" the woman asked shockingly.

"Wait a minute..." Gat started.

"AHHH! Holly! Your all grown up now, wow, puberty has been good to you!" Shaundi screamed as she ran over to hug the woman.

"Damn girl, I know I said you were a princess when you were nine but damn. It's good to see you again." Gat said as he moved to hug her also.

Viola was confused, she couldn't make out who this woman was and all she knew was that she was extremely beatiful. She stood there watching the four of them hugging and laughing. She was completely in the dark and wanted someone to tell her who the new girl was. "Aunt Shaundi and Uncle Gat? They knew her since she was nine?" she thought to herself before the woman herslef approached Viola.

"Hi, I'm Holly." the woman said.

"Hi, how do you know Shaundi, Johnny, and Brent?" Viola asked.

"We go way back, Brent tells me a lot about you. He always has a new story for me every week. I'm so jealous, he never brought me to do fun stuff, then again he came and went whenever he pleased." she said laughing.

"Oh, Brent didn't tell me anthing about you. So where'd you and Brent meet?" Viola asked.

There was growing tenseness in the room but Brent failed to notice it, he thought the two were getting along. He was so glad to see this and was relieved that there were no misunderstandings, or so he thought.

"We met back at the hospital, he was there when I was born and always has been since that day. But when he joined the Saints he was around less often and he told me I couldn't follow him because I was too young but now there's no reason for him to say no." Holly said.

"You know were engaged." Viola said showing off her ring.

"All the more reason for me to stay here with you guys, I'd love to get to know you more. I always met Brent's girlfriends." Holly said still smiling.

"That must be weird, an ex-girlfriend meeting the guy's new girlfriend." Viola said as she was growing with anger on the inside.

"What?! Ex-girlfriend? No, you've got it all wrong, haha. I'm his little sister, Holly Walford. You know, 'little baby Holly'?" she said smiling awkwardly.

"Oh! The same Holly from that video on his phone? The one that was running around?" Viola said sounding relieved.

"Haha, yeah but that was years ago, before he left to become a Saint." Holly said.

Brent was in the background with Gat and Shaundi laughing their asses off because Viola thought that Holly was an old girlfriend of Brent. She glared over at them but most esspecially Brent and gave them a death stare. The three quickly stopped laughing and walked over to rejoin the conversation with Holly, meanwhile Viola called Brent over to the side.

"What the hell! You coulda said that she was your sister, now she probably thinks I'm an angry egocentric bitch!" Viola whispered loudly.

"She doesn't, trust me. With her family and friends she is the sweetest girl in the world but if she sees a reason, even the slightest one, she will be a horrible monster that can probably still scare me." Brent said before he gave Viola a reassuring kiss on the forehead.

The group then decided to call all the staff into the Oval office to just have a little get together that wasn't about having to deal with legal stuff. They were all having a great time, Angel and Oleg were surprised to see that Holly was able to hold her own against the two of them at the same time, Kinzie and Tera was shocked at her knowledge of just about everything, Pierce and Shaundi couldn't believe all of the commercials and sponsorships she had acquired since becoming leader of the Saints, Gat was surprised to see that she was still the same girl he knew when she was nine albeit older. Kiki and Viola were amazed at how much the girl knew about economics and that she even had a masters in the subject plus being the top of her entire graduating class. Josh and Jenny were in love with her acting abilities and Zimos loved listening to all of her crazy stories. But Brent wasn't impressed with her, he made that clear.

"Attention everyone, I know your all impressed and astounded by my little sister, Holly. But I'm not. I'm not impressed that she's strong, smart, beautiful, and an economic and media genius... I'm not impressed at all, I'm fucking proud. If I was imressed that would mean I never thought she could do it but I knew all along that my little sister was gonna go far. I am so proud of her, I can't believe that all the standards I had placed for her she shattered into a zillion pieces. Then again, I knew she'd surpass them anyways. Bottom line is you made me proud, Holly." Brent said with tears coming through his eyes and causing everyone to at least tear and clap.

Holly walked up to Brent and gave her big brother a extremely tight hug and told him how much she loved him. Viola walked up with them and hugged with Holly before the group decided to all go to dinner together. They made reservations at the Purple Lobster for the fourteen people that were allowed to attend and were told by Shaundi that they all had three hours before they had to leave to reach the restaurant on time. Brent decided to give Holly a tour of he White House before she asked where she could put her stuff down, Kiki quickly walked over and offered to show Holly to her room and before leaving whispered something to Brent.

"Viola said to meet her in the bathroom in five minutes, she also said it exactly three minutes ago. I suggest you hurry because she might start wihout you." Kiki said as she patted him on the back to suggest him to start running.

She turned her attention back to Holly and spoke to her, "Right this way, soon to be little sister. In all honesty I've always wanted a little sister."

"Haha, thanks I'm happy were family now and I've alwys wanted an older sister, now I have two." she said smiling.

"Well, Viola and I will be here whenever you need us. Actually everyone here will be here when you need something. Alright, this is your room. Just call if you need anything, I'm sure someone will come and help." Kiki said as she gave Holly a hug and left her to unpack her things.

The following morning, Holly was awoken to a violent knocking on her door. She got up, stretched, and made her way to open the door. When she opened it, she saw tracer bullets and plasma bolts flying on both sides of the hallway. Instinctively, she ran back to her bed to grab her fully upgraded K-8 Krukov and joined her brother and his forces on the other side of the hall.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked her brother.

"Bellus broke through Pax's defensive lines and just began invading Earth." Brent said as the SWAT Saint next to him was killed.

"How long have we been invaded?" she asked as she dispatched some of the Bellus' Elites.

"America, about half an hour but the rest of the world, except for Russia and China, fell about a hour ago. The Bellus shut down all possible ways of communication all around the world, we were still able to talk within the United State's borders but we couldn't communicate outside of that and besides there would've been nothing to connect to." Viola said as she and Kiki came up from behind them.

"We deployed STAG already but they aren't meant to take on enemies that can break a interdimensional joint military blockade." Kiki said as she killed one of the Bolters heading their way.

Brent looked at his watch's built in radar and saw that only thirty of his SWAT troopers were left and majority of the STAG troops were defending the perimeter of the White House. He called up Pierce and asked where the local military force was.

"Pierce, we could really use some military backup right now. Where is it?" he asked.

"Held up in the base, Bellus is keeping them from aiding us. Majority of D.C's police force is trying to fight back but it's a lost cause for them." Pierce said.

"Just got word that PSF (People's Security Force) is about to deploy it's forces to try and help out, sending in Gladiators and their mainline troops (NMPD officers)." Viola said.

"And what the hell is a Gladiator?" Brent asked as he killed a Stormtrooper with a headshot.

"You ever see the 21st century's British SAS and the German GSG9?" Holly asked.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"If they fucked and had a kid who then fucked the kid of the SWAT and Marine MARSOC and then they had a kid it would make a Gladiator. So basically their the only nonaugmentated soldiers that can stand toe-to-toe with a Spartan-IV." Holly added as she unloaded a clip into a group of charging suicide Grunts.

"So how long until they get here?" asked Brent before a SOEIV landed about twenty feet in front of them.

"I'm guessing now..." Kiki said.

The soldier that came out was the Gladiator, he was clad in his jet-black Gen2 Raider armor along with a black visor. Upon his exit from his pod, the hatch slammed into one of the Bellus' Hunters and then the other was slammed by the Gladiator himself. He pulled out his dual SMGs and began unloading his weapons into the enemy Elite Zealots. He began pulling back towards Brent and those with him, he took one look at them then turned back to lob a grenade that killed about seven Theron Guards and then he looked back at them.

"Checkpoint Alpha, about a klick and a half away south from this position." he said before he turned around to unload his SMGs again on the incoming Jackals.

They all began running out of he White House until he ordered them to stop, he looked around the corner and saw a group of Black Therons killing the STAG Commandos that were sent to retrieve the president and the remainding cabinet. He eased over and pulled out dual Magnums and killed them easily. He told them not to move yet and then saw ten of he fifteen remaining SWAT Saints get their throats cut.

"Run." he said right before a NecroMonger showed up and began fighting with the Galdiator.

Brent and everyone began shooting at the NecroMonger but he just phased away and grabbed Brent, the Gladiator then turned behind him and stabbed the NecroMonger in the face with his combat knife and then freed Brent. He then motioned for all of them to start moving to the checkpoint. They finally reached outside and saw that the STAG along with PDF reinforcements and the newly rescued National Guard with SWAT units and local police holding off the Bellus' advances but saw many NecroMongers come into play and they began wrecking havoc on the defenders. Brent ordered his secret service to deploy with their SpecOps suits.

"Mr. President, all of your cabinet is accounted for and well. I have received orders from ONI Commodore Halsey to escort you and your cabinet along with bodyguards to the safe zone." said a Gladiator that walked up to him with two other Gladiators, all of which were saluting.

"Alright, lead the way. How many civilians have been evacuated?" he asked.

"Everyone except for you and the soldiers here, sir." he said as he radioed for a Pelican to come and pick them up.

As they all climbed in, the squad leader spoke to the one who had saved Brent and his allies inside the White House.

"Nice work, rookie." he said as patted the Gladiator on the shoulder.

Brent asked if any of his cabinet was harmed as was glad to hear that no one was hurt or missing, he asked what they would be doing at the safe zone and was told that they were to wait there for about a day under the protection of the PSF. After that Commodore Halsey should come in with the 1st Fleet of War and begin her extraction of civilians and military personnel. He was curious about the rest of the nations and how they were fairing.

"China fell about twenty minutes ago, their entire military was wiped out. They weren't meant to fight intergalactic threats, a lot of people are dying and we can't do anything." the squad leader said.

"Why can't we do anything?" Brent asked.

"Take a look at this, only places we can go are lit up. Everywhere else is either completely wiped of any survivor or is about to be." he replied as he handed him a holopad.

"Only the North America and Russia?!" he said with astonishment.

"Russia was able to stage a successful defense and push the enemies back but they can't hold up much longer, in New Mombassa ONI was evacuated the second the defensive lin broke. They took as many civilians as they could but couldn't take them all. PSF is ordered to enter the carrier ships when they arrive, this planet is gone." said the squad leader as the Pelican landed in the safe zone.

"Hey, you guys cut the chatter and get back out there! The bastards aren't gonna kill themselves!" screamed another Gladiator before he turned and ran towards the fight.

"Stay alive, sir." the rookie said before the four of them ran off to fight.

"You too soldier, you too." Brent replied as he, Holly, Viola, and Kiki met up with the rest of the cabinet and remaining SWAT bodyguards.

"May God help us all." he thought to himself.


	4. Lock 'n Load

A Loving Hope Chronicles

The War of the Ancients

Lock 'n Load

As Gabby and her fleet arrived, they were greeted by hundreds of Bellus ships. She knew that they wouldn't last any longer than three hours and she knew that wasn't enough to save two billion people, but she knew she had to evac whoever she could. She ordered for all her cargo ships to be ready to start piling in the refugees and for all of her battle vessels to hold the line as long as possible. When they made their way towards the planet, they met heavy resistance from the Bellus. They were ruthless in their cause to hold back Gabby and her fleet, luckily, Francis had called for a favor from Fleet Admiral Shepard. Nearby a large amount of Reapers came out and began aiding Gabby's fleet.

"Brent be ready to move by the time we get there and tell every survivor on that planet to be ready." she said to him.

"Were gonna need some help down here, can you send reinforcements?" Brent asked.

"We'll be there ASAP." she replied.

She began walking towards the SOEIV area of the ship and called for very specific FreeLancer teams and Spartan teams to join her. Then Scarlett informed her via comlink that Francis would not approve of her decision to go down to the surface. She replied saying that what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. Finally, she arrived at the SOEIV area and was greeted by FreeLancer teams Sigma, Omega, and Delta. Scarlett was alarmed to see this.

"Ma'am, FreeLancer team Sigma standying by." Agent Carolina said as she saluted.

"FreeLancer team Omega awaiting your command, ma'am." Agent Texas said.

"FreeLancer team Delta is at your disposal, Commodore." Agent York said.

Scarlett was also alerted to see Spartan-IIs taking part in the relief effort, she saw Spartan team Red.

"Ma'am, Spartan Red Team standing by." Jerome said.

"Good, then everyone in your pods and get ready for a combat drop." Gabby said.

She was dropping with some of the best FreeLancers she had ever known, they were first generation too. Sigma was composed of Carolina, Maine, and Wyoming. Omega consisted of Texas, North Dakota and Connecticut. Delta was made up of York, South Dakota, and Washington. She was also in charge of her own team which was made up of Nevada and Nebraska, she was in charge of Alpha.

"Alright, on my mark..." she said as the others anxiously waited in their pods.

They all knew what had to be done, they needed to go down there along with Gabby's FreeLancer more common soldiers-or simply referred to as Agents-. They all knew that this mission wouldn't be easy, they could hear the thundering of enemy rockets as they hit the Twilight Inspiration's shields. She had a pause as she opened up the holomap that her XO, Sarah Palmer, sent her. "My god..." she thought to herself, she saw her brothers rag-tag army of his former gang, STAG units, National Guards, local police, PSF units, Secret Service, and his SWAT teams engaging the Bellus' troops.

"Thought I'd give you a bit more inspiration before your drop, ma'am." Palmer said.

"Thanks, keep me posted." Gabby replied.

"Alright everyone, let's try this again. On my mark..." she started again as everyone waited in anticiation.

"Mark." she said over the comlinks.

As she said this, twenty-one drop pods launched out of the massive battleship and headed towards the already purged and shattered surface of Earth. She took a view outside her window and saw many of her Pelicans getting shot down before they got even close to reaching the surface.

"I want a status report on every team." she called out.

"Sigma's doig good ma'am." Carolina said.

"Omega's stable, not to banged up." Texas said.

"Delta's seen better days but we'll live." York said.

"Red Team is fine, ma'am." Jerome said.

"Alright, how about you Alpha?" Gabby called out.

"We're right behind you ma'am." Nevada said.

"We should hit the ground in approximately one minute, Commodore." Nebraska said.

"Alright, once we get boots on the ground I want all nine members of Red Team to secure a safe zone for the Cargo Ships to land and start boarding procedures, all FreeLancers are to aid the other Agents in safe guarding the civilians and other refugees until Red Team contacts us. 'Til then we gotta hold out, sync?" she said.

"Sync." all team leaders replied as all pods hit the ground.

Once they were on the ground, Red Team moved to complete their objective and the FreeLancers all linked up and began moving towards the fight. They saw the other Agents alongside Saints trying to hold back the Bellus' advances but they were horribly outmatched. The Bellus had spared nothing when they decided to invade Earth, Commodore Halsey was expecting a paramilitary force or a heavily armed security fleet but instead they were facing the Bellus' Fleet of Scourging Fire. The same fleet that broke through the Pax's defensive lines and the reason for Pax's retreat.

"Sigma, I want you to take the middle, Omega take the right, and Delta you take the left. Alpha and I are taking the skies." Gabby said as the FreeLancers began to split up and Alpha began to utilize their jetpacks.

The thundering of missiles and grenades being tossed around on the battlefield coupled with the hissing of bullets as they flew through the air was deafening, but not as deafening as the screams as the soldier that was on the receiving end of the incoming object. "A lot of good men are gonna die here today." Carolina thought. She usually tried not to pay attention to death but she knew that in the field of work that she was in, it was inevitable. She gave Maine a signal on the barricade far to her right and then a signal to Wyoming on her far left, like a symphony Sigma moved as a fine tuned machine taking out enemies and destroying key enemy strong points. The path they were all on would eventually amalgamate and become a single driving force wedged between enemies. Almost as soon as they had come together, the undid their path, they began falling back and were diverging into three seperate path again. Once they all got back, they ordered their Agents and Saints in their area to press forwards and to take as much ground as they could while the enemy was scattered.

FreeLancer teams Omega and Delta were doing the same thing all at the exact same time, and Alpha was wrecking havoc on Bellus' airforce. Suddenly, the FreeLancer/Saints' lines were broken and many of the Agents were getting killed by invisible forces, or at least what appeared to be invisible.

"Anyone else losing troops out of nowhere?" Texas asked.

"Yeah, what's going on?" Carolina asked.

"Hell if I know, but we gotta hold this line. We got civilians behind us that aren't gonna be in the best position if our lines break." York said.

"FreeLancer teams be advised, NecroMongers have entered the battlefield. Suggest falling back to the safe zone now." Red Team's leader, Jerome said.

"Copy Red Team, all forces fall back. Brent's Daedalus' will try and cover our tracks but be ready, if there are NecroMongers in play nowhere is a safe zone." Gabby said.

"And exactly what the hell is a NecroMonger?" Texas asked.

"Their extremely dangerous enemies that can phase from one spot to another at their will, they could show up anywhere within a radius that isn't large enough to go planet to planet." Gabby said.

"So they can come and go as they please? How the hell do we combat them?" Carolina asked.

"They're like Promethean Knights, it takes a while for them to phase out, about ten seconds before they can do it again so take every chance you get to kill them." Gabby said.

"Ma'am, with all due respect I don't think we'll last much longer like this." York said.

"I agree, lucky for you we decided to come and help out." said a voice over the comlinks.

"Erebos? Is that you?" Gabby asked.

"Yes, ma'am. Were inbound to your position also, in addition to my Burning Shadow Legion, Durge and his RoughRagers, a platoon of Jedi Knights, and some Mandalorians, we got something a little extra." Erebos said.

"What?" Gabby asked.

"A husband and his extremely advanced army." Francis said.

"Reinforcements inbound in about half a minute." he added.

"Copy, we gotta get those civilians out of here ASAP." Gabby said.

"Agreed, human. May I suggest having a couple of Corvettes move down there and assist?" asked R'tas Vadum.

"I'd be happy to accept your help, Supreme Commander." Gabby replied.

"Very well, I shall send Ooskoo Rotam and his White Lance along with Ripa Barutam and his specialists." R'tas replied.

"I shall also send Sesa Refum with his Blades of Clarity and N'tho Sroam and his Guardians." Voro 'Nar said.

"We'll take all the help we can get." Gabby said.

"Wow, thanks for the invite for this all out war." Captain Jones of the Onyx Guard said as COG forces began their deployment.

"Well, at least you came." Francis said.

"Yeah, we came too." said Lt. Col. Ashley Williams as her Galactic Marines began arriving.

"Does no one listen when I say split up?" asked Franics as he and his reinforcements put boots on the ground.

"Be glad we came, that means we got things under control in our dimensions." Erebos said as he stepped off his Gunship.

"Fair enough but my scanners are picking up a lot more enemy ships coming in." Francis said as he shot a NecroMonger in the head as he phased towards him.

"Then it's a good thing everyone came." Brent said as he and his STAG Commandos began firing upon the Bellus' troops once again.

"We've got a lot of work to do." said Francis as his Promethean Warriors and Knights began arriving on the battlefield.


	5. Fight or Flight

A Loving Hope Chronicles

The War of the Ancients

Fight or Flight

The battle was horrendous, both sides had suffered a tremendous amount of casualties from the first week. Francis began to check the injury lists from today as he always did. He couldn't believe that he had lost a large amount of troops and they hadn't gained much, the battle against the NecroMongers seemed nearly impossible. Suddenly, he saw that FreeLancer Agents Florida and Georgia were in the infirmary.

"Scarlett what happened to FreeLancer Agents Florida and Georgia?" he asked.

"According to their squad leader, Agent Arizona, they were attacked on patrol by a platoon of Therons headed by a NecroMonger.

"All adversaries were killed but at a cost of thirty-two Saints and the two FreeLancer Agents." she said abruptly.

"Damn, thiry-two? Maybe we should send them to Reach." Francis said.

"Sir, the Saints' combat prowess is not what is in question, they have no armor at all." Scarlett said.

"Last time I checked they do." said Francis.

"Their STAG units do, SWAT units do, their National Guard do, the Saints themselves don't. However, President Brent does have two-thousand Secret Service members with special Saint armor." Scarlett replied instantly.

"Well, tell the president to report to the bridge." he said firmly.

"He's right outside,sir." she said as Brent entered.

"You wanted to see me." Brent started.

"Yes, give your National Guard the new Modern Soldier uniform. It's the most recent made, I had just enough ordered for your men. Your Saints, police department, and SWAT teams are to return to Reach. Effective immediately." Francis said.

"I agree, however my SWAT teams have proven to be highly useful when fighting the Bellus' forces. I suggest keeping them around." Brent said enthusiastically.

"Fine, but the police officers and Saints have to get out of harm's way." he replied seriously.

"Understood, Armada Admiral." Brent said before he turned around to walk towards the exit.

"And Brent, just a piece of advice. It's easier to focus on the war when no loved ones or close friends are on the battlefield, but..." he said as he pulled his helmet off.

"I can't just send them to Reach, they wouldn't listen anyways." Brent replied quickly.

"Let me finish, it's easier to focus on the war when no loved ones or close friends are on the battlefield, but its even harder when the ones you care about are on he battlefield and your home safe. It brings upon a feeling of guilt." he finished.

"So what do I do?" he asked confusedly.

"That's up to you, do you think they can all hold their own? Think about it, sometimes its better to have someone mad at you rather than not having them at all." said Francis.

"Well, what do you think I should do?" he asked just before a NecroMonger warship appeared out of slipspace and began wrecking havoc on the fleet.

"Get a weapon." Francis said.

The NecroMonger warship was enormous, it was bigger than the Infinity by a couple of meters. The enormous ship was even escorted by many Storm Battlecruisers and dozens of Imperial Star Destroyers. Although Francis and his allies' combined fleet outnumbered their enemies six to one the Bellus had all of their weapons primed and ready to fire. They fired and destroyed many of the UEG's ships.

"Armada Admiral Francis come in, this is Commander David Jones of the COG military. We are en route to your location, expect us right about now." said the Commander along with his four thousand ships.

"Commander, right on time. We were kind of in a tough position, glad you came when you did." he shot back.

"Now hear this, all ships enable shielding and launch fighters. I repeat all ships enable shilding and launch fighters." Scarlett said into every UEG ship's intercom.

As she said this every ship in the fleet's shielding formed around it. The UEG's fighters began launching and were aiming to take down the NecroMonger ship. Sadly, the NecroMonger's ship was heavily equipped with anti-fighter defenses. Francis noticed this and immediately gave an order to his highest captain.

"Maverick, tell all fighters to stand clear of the NecroMonger ship. It's anti-fighter defenses are too effective, we can't risk losing all of our fighters to take down one ship." Francis ordered.

"Copy sir." was all he replied.

"Sir, all forward facing armnaments are primed and ready to fire. Whenever you give the order sir." Scarlett said.

"Fire." he said.

"Acquiring main target, target acquired. Firing all cannons." said Scarlett as the Infinity's cannons fired.

The entire area was ringing witht the noise of gunfire; the two SMACs, three MACs, all ten Mass Drivers, twenty Mini-MACs, and even Archer and Shiva missiles. All projectiles hit the target but did a lot less damage than anticipated. All of it together did about 50% damage to the ship. As Francis ordered for another volley to be fired the NecroMongers fired back. Their main cannon began absorbing the space around it and fired a consistent, extremely bright stream. The damage that came from it was devastating, it shot clean through the Infinity and even disabled it shield. The Infinity's personal escort of ten Thermopylae-class Ultra Super Heavy Cruisers fired their main cannons in retaliation. It did some damage but wasn't enough, the NecroMonger ship then began adjusting and focused it's main cannon on one of the Thermopylae-class ships and it was obliterated within seconds.

"Armada Admiral, I highly suggest retreating to Reach. We can fall back behind the SMAC platforms, we won't stand a chance against that monsterous ship." Commander Jones said.

"I agree, that ship will rip us to shreads if we continue to try and engage it." Cortana confirmed.

"If we fall back to Reach and the Bellus Alliance breaks through the SMAC platforms we won't have enough time to evacuate everyone." said Francis.

"Sir, if this fleet falls then all of the Pax Alliance would fall." Scarlett said.

"Sir, I highly suggest that we fall back somewhere. We can't risk losing this fleet or Reach, we can fall back to Sangheilios. According to R'tas Vadum the entire system is firmly under their control." Captain Lasky, the Infinity's XO said.

"Well, then get us there XO." Francis said.

"Aye, aye sir." Lasky said.

As Lasky gave the order to all fighters to return to their ship and all other ships to make the jump to the Sangheili controlled space, the NecroMonger ship was readying it's main cannon to take out the Infinty. Right before the Infinity was hit it made its jump into Sangheili space. As all of the ships in the UEG began arriving in Sangheili space, the Bellus Alliance decided to follow the UEG fleet and were about to begin their bombartment again but the Sangheili ships had the first volley and managed to send the Bellus running.

"Thank you, R'tas, I don't know what we would've done had we not retreated when we did." Francis said.

"Titan, the Bellus have increased their offensive tactics in every dimension, we need to formulate a plan." R'tas said to Francis.

"I agree, but the Bellus are going to be coming back. They don't handle losing well." Francis said.

"Then we should evacuate the moon underneath us, there are many simple living people down there." R'tas replied.

"I agree, but I'm afraid I can't send as much help. My flagship has a hole in it, and our shields aren't recharging." Francis replied.

The two began thinking of a way they could evacuate everyone on the moon below without having enough troops. As they were pondering the slipspace tracker noticed thousands of blips suddenly appear in front of them. Francis was shocked that the Bellus could reorganize and begin another assault so quickly.

"All ships, fire at will." Francis screamed.

"Hold your fire, we come in peace." Erebos said.

"Erebos? What are you doing here?" Francis asked as Erebos' fleet began taking defensive positions.

"There are matters that we may need to discuss after the Bellus' second attack." Erebos spoke back to Francis.

After they spoke, Francis and Erebos started sending down their landing craft to defend the civilians while R'tas Vadum's troops evacuated them. Francis deployed his BHEUM's 145th Heavy Defensive Battalion to the snowy planet while Erebos sent in his Blackhole Galactic Marines and a armor company consisting of one hundred AT-TEs and four hundred AT-XTs. The BHEUMs and Galactic Marines had worked with each other before and they had a great deal of respect for each other. Francis and Erebos, as they usually did, decided to join the fight on the ground. Erebos was the first t touch down on the planet, arriving on his black LAAT/t with his squad of troops, followed by Francis on his Albatross which carried around ten men, a Scorpion tank, and two Warthogs.

"Long time no see." Erebos said as he extended his hand.

"I agree, I hope things are going well in your sector." Francis replied.

"Of course, new armor?" Erebos asked.

"Yeah, Prefect platebody and helmet with a golden visor, dual Ricochet shoulder plating, and the same old legs and forearms armor. Looks good, huh?" Francis stated.

"Yeah, but I prefer my orginal armor." Erebos said as the two began walking around the landing zone.

"So what specs you got on this armor set?" asked Erebos.

"Camo, armor lock, promethean vision, and a jet pack." said Francis proudly.

"Wow, really stepping up your game!" Erebos screamed as the deafening sound of vehicles entered their area.

"Yeah, had to beef up my forces. Gave all my BHEUMs the Spartan-IV soldier kit and my regular marines got the recruit set, we had just enough warrior kits to give to all of the Spartan-IV recruits." Francis said as his personal guard uncloaked.

"Woah, I'm guessing the Titans all got Prefect armor?" Erebos said noticing the soldiers.

"Yup, sadly it's not as effective against the Precursors... Even in their hands..." Francis said as they entered the command area.

"Anyways, how's the RGAR fairing?" Francis asked as one of his Scorpions rolled by.

"Actually, that's what I came to discuss..." Erebos said pulling off his helmet.

Francis motioned for everyone to leave the room while the two warriors spoke in private.

"What happened?" asked Francis.

"I've been excommunicated from the RGAR, along with my entire fleet." Erebos said bluntly.

"What?! Why?" Francis asked.

"Francis..." Erebos spoke.

Francis looked at Erebos' face, he didn't show much disdain which Francis would've expected from anyone who had been removed from such a prestigious position. Erebos looked rather relieved, yet he still had a little bit of sorrow. Francis worried for his closest ally and wished it was some petty argument and not a huge disagreement.

"Tell me what happened, get straight to the point." Francis said.

"I've joined the Imperials." Erebos said.

Francis was shocked, he couldn't believe what he was hearing, he managed to quietly say, "Why?".

"Francis... Angel sent me on a mission to murder the Emperor and the Dark Lord of the Siths. I was successful, I killed the emperor and the Dark Lord of the Sith. But, the apprentice to the Dark Lord was pure... She had pure intentions, to restore peace to our galaxy... Francis I fell in love with her. I took over as Emperor of the Sith Empire and she took the position of Dark Lord of the Sith. When I called for a meeting with the highest memebrs of the RGAR council they wanted me crucified, others sided with me. The Madalorians have sided with me along with Durge and his forces but Grand Master Tano and Angel exiled me and my comrades, they showed us mercy." he spoke as Novus and Bo entered the tent.

"And what do you want from me?" Francis asked.

"Why would you still aid the Pax alliance?" he added.

"We don't want to be enemies of the Pax, we want to unite the Sith Empire and RGAR, to bring balance." Novus said.

"Please, talk with the Pax grand council, help them see reason." Bo pleaded.

"Erebos, how do I know that your loved one has good intentions?" Francis asked.

"Ask her for yourself." Erebos said as a woman in a black cloak entered the room.

"Jade meet Francis, Francis meet Jade." Erebos said.

"It is good to meet you, Armada Admiral." she said as she removed her hood.

She had beautiful brunette hair and soft blue eyes. If she hadn't been wearing a Sith's battle armor he never would've known she was a Sith.

"Hello." Francis spoke.


	6. Tough Negotiations

A Loving Hope Chronicles

The War of the Ancients

Tough Negotiations

"Erebos, you have everyone's support except for the RGAR." Francis said.

"Sadly, that is the one that matters the most. You should know that if the RGAR council still decides against it then you would be considered an enemy." Shepard said.

"Well then, will you all come with me to confront the council?" Erebos asked.

"Of course." they all said.

"And what of the Dark Lord of the Sith? What does she think?" R'tas Vadum asked.

"I believe that the NecroMongers' plans are too horrid, even for a Sith Lord. If they aren't stopped then after exterminating the Pax Alliance they will turn on us." Jade said.

"So the Locust, what is their position?" Commander Jones asked.

"They are against the NecroMongers but know that any rebellion they try to start will just end in their overall destruction. They grew hateful against the NecroMongers after they executed their queen, although even with our help the NecroMongers could still defeat everyone." said Jade.

"And what of the Storm forces? How do they view the NecroMongers?" Thel Vadam asked.

"Jul 'Mdama? He only follows the NecroMongers because he has no other option, from the second of their arrival he's resented them." Jade responded.

"Well then, we know what has to be done. First we make the RGAR see reason, then we contact the Storm and Locust forces, and finally destroy the NecroMongers." Francis said.

They all nodded in agreement and the ship made a slipspace jump for the RGAR planet of Coruscant. As they arrived they saw the massive RGAR fleet from the bridge of the Mother of Invention. Francis was nervous, if they RGAR did not want to accept the Sith Empire' s peace offering then Erebos would declare war on them. Francis knew that Ahsoka and her Jedi council, along with Angel's command staff, and the RGAR senate would be very hesitant about allying themselves with their sworn enemy but it was necessary if they wanted to win. The Mother of Invention finally touched down on the planet and the representatives were escorted by Senate Guards and Commandos to the Council Chambers.

-Within the Council Chambers-

"The RGAR does not reason with terrorist." yelled a senator.

"They aren't terrorist, they're our other half." Grand Master Tano said.

"This alliance would be good for everyone, we cannot divide ourselves based on dimension or philosophy, we need to stand united." Jade said.

"What the Sith says is true, if we were to be united we would stand a greater chance against the NecroMongers." one of the Jedi said.

"However, the final say lies with me." said newly elected Supreme Chancellor, Angel.

"Supreme Chancellor, it would be easier if all of the RGAR's military efforts were focused on one enemy." Ahsoka said.

"Appo, what do you think? Where do you stand on this argument?" Angel asked.

"Sir, Erebos is our brother, he hasn't done anything wrong. Despite what the senate thinks, I believe that the more united this universe is the better we have a chance of winning this war." Appo said.

"Well, as I am Supreme Chancellor, I say that the RGAR and the Sith Empire are to enter into an alliance." Angel said.

Erebos was glad, he was the new emperor of the Empire and his love interest was the Dark Lord of the Sith. Jade had began rebuilding the Sith's forces and received two million recruits thanks to Erebos' approval. Appo had become the new RGAR commanding officer with Bly as the executive officer, and Bacara as the Operations officer. Angel had become the Supreme Chancellor and employed his army as the Chancellor's personal army, he dubbed them the "Chancellor's Wrath". Although Grand Master Tano had hoped that the Sith Empire and the RGAR could join together to form a single force, she was glad that majority of her system was united.

The NecroMongers took note of the betrayal by the Sith Empire and destroyed the Sith Empire's ships who weren't lucky enough to escape. The NecroMongers ravaged their former allies and effectively put down many of the Imperials on NecroMonger controlled planets. The most notible would be on Hoth, there the Imperials put up the best fight against the NecroMonger warriors.

-Icy planet of Hoth, 1300 hours-

The Imperial forces were pinned down on the icy planet by the NecroMongers. As the Sith Imperial fleet orbited the planet, Commander Wolffe along with his fleet of twenty Acclamator-class Assault ships arrived to aid their new allies.

"Sith, this is Commander Wolffe of the RGAR, were here to help." he said.

"I'm afraid a Sith isn't the head of this fleet, this is Novus Vizsla of he Mandalorians." he responded.

"Regardless, we're here to aid you." Wolffe replied.

"Solid copy,glad you came." said Novus.

As Commander Wolffe began deploying his troops, Novus Vizsla awaited the NecroMonger arrival. Commander Wolffe chose to join the surface fight and arrived on the icy planet wearing snow armor. He took an Republic Troop Transporter to the Sith Empire's base. Upon arrival, he met Novus Vizsla.

"Hello, Commander Wolffe. We've heard many good things about you from Francis." Bo said.

"Yes, he says your extremely loyal to your men."Novus added.

"Glad to hear that, however Francis tells me that you are both the leaders of Mandalore yet neither of you are 'Mandalore'. If I may ask, why?" Wolffe asked.

"Well, there can be only one 'Mandalore'. And that's me." said a female voice.

Commander Wolffe turned around to see a beautiful woman standing before him. She had beautiful red hair and looked stunning, she was a definite 10/10 hands down.

"Wolffe, this is my ancestor, Shae Vizla." Novus said.

"Shae Vizla... The one from the Great Galactic War?" Wolffe asked looking at her.

"In the flesh." she replied.

"But how?" he asked.

"Well, the Emperor had bigger plans for certain members of the Sith Empire. Those who I know of are myself, Jade, and Jaesa Willsaam." she replied.

"Why though, what's the point of keeping certain people alive? Why not everyone?" Wolffe asked.

"Well, the emperor chose those who never gave him reason to not trust." she replied.

"So why did you all just willingly agree to be carbon frozen?" Wolffe asked.

"The Emperor saved the most effective members of the Empire to endure for as long as possible, now I must find the current emperor and serve him." Shae said as she walked away.

"By the way, 'Jade' is actually the ancient Sith Lord, Darth Nox." she added before leaving.

Commander Wolffe continued his conversation with Novus and Bo about the battle on their flagship. Although they all agreed to stand and fight on the planet, the emperor had other plans. They were instructed to flee the planet and aid Shae Vizla in finding the other carbon frozen individuals and to bring them to Dark Lord Jade.

"Commander Wolffe, according to Darth Jade, there are five more pods that haven't been found. One is confirmed to be Jaesa Willsaam, one oft he greatest Sith Inquisitors of her time. The others are unknown, however Darth Jade commands that all be found." said Shae Vizla.

"Well then, we should split our fleet up into five groups. Two from the Mandalorian fleet and three from my forces, agreed?" Wolffe asked.

"Very well commander and be cautious, from what Darth Jade tells me all those who were frozen are to be her personal council." Shae said to him.

"Thank you, good luck." Wolffe said as he pulled his helmet on and walked off.

As Wolffe arrived back on his ship, he began dividing his fleet. When he finished this he spoke to his lieutenant. He ordered Sinker to make the jump to the coordinates given to them. They made the jump and entered into a NecroMonger controlled area.

"Sir, were outnumbered three to one. I suggest sending a recovery team to extract the objective and leaving as soon as possible." Sinker said.

"Agreed, where exactly is the objective?" Wolffe asked.

"... In one of their frigates, a bit larger than our Arquitens-class but possibly twice as many enemies on board." Sinker said.

"Well, tell Boost to deploy with his squad as support for Coricand his HACs. Also have Warthog lead our star fighters and have everyone on a gun or preparing for a boarding." Wolffe replied.

"Copy. Coric do you read?" Sinker spoke.

"Loud and clear, Sinker. You know which ship were heading to?" Coric asked.

"Yeah, your pilot already knows which one to head to. Whenever your ready." Sinker said.

"Boost and his platoon will be going with you for support, make this one fast." Sinker added.

"Solid copy." Boost said as he and his platoon started piling into their gunships.

In total there were four gunships heading out, they were escorted by Warthog and his squad of star fighters to the hanger of the target ship. Upon landing they met heavy resistance against the NecroMongers. It took them a while but they managed to clear the hanger of all NecroMongers. They began storming the hallways of the ship engaging the NecroMongers whenever they were spotted. Sadly, the NecroMongers were too powerful for the clones and the HACs had to speed up their search for the pod. Boost had lost ten of his thirty men already and the NecroMongers kept coming.

"Coric, you find the objective yet?" he asked.

"Affirmative, were heading back to the hanger now. ETA is about two minutes." Coric replied.

"Copy, if your not here by then we might have to evacuate the ship. Wolffe just said the capital ship is wrecking havoc on the search group. He's jumping in five." Boost said.

"Get in the gunships and prepare for take off, once we get on our gunship leave. We laid some explosives to take this ship down." Coric said.

Coric and his troops finally made it to the hanger and sprinted to their gunship. The NecroMongers were trying to stop them but luckily Boost and his me were there to give them covering fire.

"Boost, let's go!" Coric yelled as his troops began jumping into the gunship.

The four gunships all left the frigate and Coric detonated it upon their getaway. Boost had lost one third of his platoon and the rest of them were injured. Coric had lost two if his commandos and all of them were hurting badly.

"Did you get the carbon frozen pod thing?" Boost asked as they neared the ship.

"Yeah, it was a lot of effort to grab this person. Wonder what significance they have." Coric replied as they landed in the ship.

The gunship's doors opened and Coric, along with his squad was met with Commander Wolffe and Lieutenant Sinker hoping to see the objective. They were glad to see that they had succeeded and were ordered by Wolffe to being the objective to the contraption behind him. He then ordered Sinker to have the search group retreat to its previous area. The machine blinked and buzzed as the frost from pod cleared and finally opened. From it stepped out a woman wielding a lightsaber.

"What's going on here?" she asked.

"I am Commander Wolffe of the Restored Grand Army of the Republic, we don't have a lot of time to explain but Darth Jade sent us to recover you." he said.

"Alright then." she replied.

"Do you have a name?" Coric asked.

"Thana... Thana Vesh, the greatest Sith Juggernaut of the Golden age of the Sith." she said.

Commander Wolffe's search group arrived back at the planet of Hoth's space. They were apparently the last to return from their mission, and Commander Wolffe took note of this but was saddened even more when he noticed how much of his troops he had lost.

"Was everyone successful?" Shae asked.

"Yes." everyone replied.

"Shae... Is that you?" Thana asked.

"Yes it is, Thana. However, our plans have changed. A greater evil has emerged and it must be stopped before it ravages all life." she replied.

"All those who were recently unfrozen please report to my ship. We have much to discuss." she added.

On the Mandalorian fleet's flagship, the Bounty, Shae explained how things have changed in the universe. Those present were Shae, Thana, Jaesa, Ashara, Vette, and StarKiller. Shae was the greatest bounty hunter of her time and the most versatile of them all. Thana was the greatest Sith Marauder and the greatest duelist. Jaesa was the foreseer of the group and was a amazing Sith Assassin in her time. Ashara was the Sith Sorceress and unarguably the best and brightest of the entire Empire. Vette had become a proficient Imperial Operative and was the most resourceful. And finally there was StarKiller, the greatest Sith Juggernaut of all time clad in his Sith battle armor and the most enraged Sith of them all.

After explaining to them their new situation, they decided that they would become the basis of the Dark Council. As for Shae, she took the role of Emperor's Fist and Vette became the Emperor's Shadow. Shae resigned from the position of 'Mandalore' in order to serve the Emperor. They requested for Darth Jade to send a cruiser for them to take them to the Emperor and she obliged. She even decided to accompany them as they met their emperor for the first time. As their ship arrived they were greeted by Jade, she welcomed them and asked them to enter the ship. As they entered, they saw that the entire ship was filled with either Sith or Imperial Guard and the variants. Darth Jade had brought Sith Marauders, Sith Warriors, and Sith Acolytes to represent the Sith power.

"You've been busy." Shae said to Jade as the others left.

"Well, when I returned the Sith Empire was pathetic. Don't get me wrong the Imperial military was great but the Sith military was significantly weakened." she replied.

"So Sith troopers and Imperial troopers are the most numerous soldiers we have?" Shae asked.

"Yeah, followed by Imperial Guard and their variants and finally Sith warriors." Jade replied.

"Also Imperial Stromtroopers, latest addition to the Sith Empire." Jade added.

"The Mandalorian military looks great, extremely numerous, well armored, and trained. Haven't seen a Mandalorian army like this since the Mandalorian War." Shae said.

"How are the others? Have they adjusted well so far?" asked Jade.

"Jaesa, Thana, StarKiller, and Ashara are having some difficulties but Vette and I are doing fine. Then again her and I usually worked on both sides so it's easier for us." Shae said.

"Well, we have the Sith armada being built back up. Kuat Drive Yards are building Harrower-class Dreadnaughts, Ardent-class Frigates, and the Empire has funded for us to receive Imperator-class Star Destroyers and possibly one Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer. However, this is costing the Empire a large sum of money. Although when our military is back to stability we will destroy the NecroMongers." Jade said proudly as her ship arrived to the Emperor's fleet.

"Who is this?" asked a bridge officer.

"Dark Lord of the Sith Jade, head of the Dark Council, I request an audience with the Emperor." she said.

"I'm sorry, he emperor is disposed-" he went silent for a while.

"My apologies, madam. You are permitted to dock with the flagship and have your audience with the emperor." he added.

"Thank you officer, expect us in a few moments." Jade said.

"Very good, madam." he said as the communication was cut.

She walked out of the bridge and signaled for Shae to follow her. As they entered the hanger they were met with the others except for Thana. Her absence worried Jade because she knew of her destructive nature. She looked around and didn't notice any major damages in the hanger, this brought a few precious seconds of comfort to her.

"Where is Thana?" she asked.

A Sith Marauder then went hurling through the air and it gave her question an answer.

"I think I found her..." Vette joked.

They all piled into the transport ship and went on their way to the emperor's flagship. They were all so eager to meet the emperor, with the exception of Jade. They all hoped that Erebos would be planning on staging an all out war with the NecroMongers instead of watching behind the scenes as they had been told. As they landed they were met with Imperial Royal Guards who escorted them to the bridge of the ship.

"Welcome to you all." he spoke.

"Thank you, master. We come to do your bidding." StarKiller spoke.

"I see, I expect all of my military personnel to perform at the highest level. I'd expect nothing less from all of you." Erebos said.

"Yes, emperor." they all replied.

"Now, why have you come here?" the emperor asked.

"We are here to discuss the Dark Council." Jade said.

"As you know the Dark Council only answers to Dark Jade, I have no say in matters of the Sith." Erebos said.

"We know, we would like you to consider having Shae and Vette on the Imperial Council." Jade said.

"... You ask a great deal, I'd prefer to have Shae lead the Mandalorians and have Vette lead the Imperial agent training program or if she prefer to be the commanding officer of it." Erebos said.

Jade turned and received a nod from the both of them and told the emperor that they'd accept. He then dismissed everyone except Jade. He waited for her escorts to leave and then dismissed the "Emperor's Shadow Guard" and everyone else on the bridge. When only Jade and he were left he began to speak.

"I hope things are better on your end." he started.

"Things must be rough, huh?" she said.

"Yeah, keeping my old troops and the Stormtroopers from fighting is extremely hard. Plus having to root out the corrupted personnel is taking a toll on my resources." he said.

"No one ever said running an empire was easy." Jade said.

"Well, how's things on the Sith's end?" he asked.

"I had to, erm... root out those Sith who opposed me but at the same time I might've created future enemies. But I'll deal with that when it comes up." she replied as a stormtrooper came running in.

"Sir were-" he managed to say before being impaled by a NecroMonger short sword.

"Attack." the NecroMonger finished.

Erebos grabbed his blaster and quickly shot the enemy down. Many of his guards began entering the room in an attempt to protect him but he ordered them to fan out and engage the enemy. His Shadow Nulls entered and awaited his orders.

"Jade get to your ship, take the other Sith with you and tell Shae to get to the Mandalorian fleet." he said.

"And Vette?" she asked.

"She's an Imperial, we'll take care of her." Erebos said as he turned to his best troopers.

"Men, you are tasked with the most important mission, you are to clear the hanger of the NecroMongers. You will be aided by my Shadow Guard and by the other Shadow Arcs. If you fail we won't be able to launch our fighters and bombers and if we can't do that we will all die." he commanded as we began to walk off.

"Do not fail me." he said as he ignited his dual two-sided red light sabers.

The Nulls rushed out of the chamber and ran straight towards the hanger. When they finally reached it they met up with the Emperor's Shadow Guard and various other Arc troopers. They only saw an empty hanger when they looked around. Then suddenly two Arc troopers were killed.

"They're invisible, we won't be able to see them!" yelled one of the Arcs.

"No, but they only use close quarters. Get out your vibroswords and be alert." one of the Nulls said via com link.

"Concentrate, listen to all the little things before you strike." StarKiller said as he entered the hanger.

As he said this he struck down the NecroMongers and the others did the same. They had lost a few troops but overall they did good. StarKiller then gave the all clear signal and the pilots began entering their ships.

"Matchstick, your in charge out there. Give em hell!" screamed one of the Arcs.

"Solid copy, we'll be back before you know it." he said as he and all the other ships in the hanger flew off.

Afterwards, Darth Jade and her companions came out of the doorway and met up with StarKiller. Jade told him at it was time for them to leave and they all entered their transport ship. As the Sith empire scrambled their fighters the NecroMongers primed their main cannons. Before Erebos could give the order to retreat the entire enemy fleet unleashed its firepower on them. It destroyed hundreds of ships and crippled hundreds more.

"All ships fall back, I repeat fall back!" Erebos said over the intercom.

As all of his ships began jumping out of there those who couldn't feared for their lives. The NecroMonger fleet began advancing towards the weakened ships and raided them. The bridge crew of each ship could hear the screams of their comrades being slaughtered.

"Attack!" Erebos said as he and his capable starships returned.

"My liege, you don't have the firepower to take them on!" yelled a bridge officer.

"Well, you didn't account for us. Battle-group Dakota open fire!" Infinity's newest CO, Lasky declared.

The Infinity was badly damaged during its last skirmish with the NecroMongers but this time it was patched up and had its weapons primed. Without hesitation Captain Lasky ordered the Infinity's main cannon to focus on the flagship. It was a direct hit and incapacitated the ship, easily putting it out of operation. The NecroMonger fleet was then forced to retreat after suffering a heavy loss.

"Captain Lasky, thank you for coming. If had come a moment later we could've all been dead." the bridge officer said.

"Don't worry, the Systems Alliance is going to be taking much of the load off of the UNSC and her allies. So basically you'll have a lot more help, but Francis is waiting for his Infinity-class ship to finish construction." Lasky said formally.

-On Coruscant, Jedi Temple-

Ashoka walked through the temple, remembering key events from her Palawan days. It was late at night and the temple was empty, she thought back to the trial she was put on and how no one except her master, Anakin, had trusted her. Eventually she ended up outside, the exact same spot she stood when she walked away from the order. Memories began to flood back into her head of all the hurt and sad emotions she felt as she walked away. To her Anakin was more than a master, he was a father, best friend, older brother, or whatever she needed at the moment. And to Anakin, Ahsoka was like a daughter, little sister, and most importantly his best friend. For both of them they were someone to turn to when everyone else had turned away.

She had missed her master, she owed everything she knew to him. Her favorite moment of him was when she was put on trial and he searched endlessly for the real guilty person. To her it showed that he'd defy the entire Jedi Order to protect her. The entire Jedi Order and the entire Republic had thought her the enemy but he never wavered in his faith to her. All of this just worsened her mood because after this she began thinking of what he did, those he killed, hurt, destroyed in name of the Sith.

"If I had stayed would I have been able to save him?" she thought to herself.

"Would he have killed me?" the thought frightened her.

She walked back inside and went to the place where his remains were placed. She saw to his side was the woman, and only person in the universe, who he might've loved as much as her, albeit a different kind of love.

"Padme... If she wasn't enough to save him how much more of an impact would I have had..." she thought.

She looked over his burial area and traced the inscriptions of it with her finger. As she traced the final letter a holocron popped out. She looked at it and saw that it gave an activation code to a hidden holocron in the Jedi archives. She went to the Jedi archives and typed in the holocron number and entered its activation code.

"Snips." she smiled, the code was the nickname he had given her so long ago.

Suddenly a projection of Anakin came up. He stood next to Padme, his beloved wife at their apartment. Then the projection spoke:

"Hey Snips!" Anakin said.

"Hello Ahsoka." Padme said smiling.

"We have great news, were pregnant!" Anakin said jumping for joy and by doing so brought a smile to her.

"And we-" Padme said before her communicator rang.

"I'm sorry Ahsoka but I have to tend to some political problems but Anakin should fill you in." she said as she left.

"Well anyways... Ever since I took you as my padawan I sensed something great from you. You are a great Jedi but an even greater friend." he said giving a warm smile.

She began tearing up, she missed both of them so much.

"Now, for every parent they have to ensure the safety of their children before anything else. I did it to you and now I have a favor to ask of you... We want you to be a godparent of the twins, you are my closest friend, even closer than Obi-wan, and your like a daughter to me. If something should happen to me and Padme I want you to step in and look after them for us." he said.

"I accept..." she whispered.

"Well anyways, I gotta run. I gotta meet up with you at the Jedi temple." he said as the recording ended.

She looked at the recording and saw that it was on the day she had been proven innocent.

"Are you going to look for them?" a familiar voice asked.

"Master!" she screamed as she ran to give him a hug.

"Haha, hello little Ahsoka. Well your not so little anymore." he said hugging her.

"Master Kenobi I've missed you!" she said.

"As have I, Grand Master." he said as he broke the hug to give her a bow.

"Haha." she laughed.

"I remember the day you were put on trial, Anakin was furious with the council... Furious with even Padme after she had asked if there was a possibility you were guilty." Kenobi said.

"Wow, I didn't know." she replied.

"His love for Padme was the most of that kind of love he had for anything or anyone. Overall devotion and loyalty was his mother, and I had friendship. But the way he felt about you always outweighed the way he felt for us. To him you were something more important than a wife, mother, and even brother put together... You were his daughter and even if you did commit that crime he still would've been searching for your innocence." he spoke.

"..." Ahsoka was speechless.

"Would you like to see him?" Kenobi asked smiling.

"Yes." she replied without hesitation.

Obi-wan taught her how to request a meeting with the spirit of Anakin. She quickly thanked him then noticed him fade away, she hadn't noticed he was a spirit. As she got to him tomb she did what Kenobi had taught her and his spirit began to form.

"Master!" she screamed as she began to cry.

"Hey Snips." he said tearing up.

"I've missed you so much!" she screamed still crying.

"I do too." he said smiling.

"Hey come on, what happened to you? Crying? Are you sure your Ahsoka?" he said still tearing.

"I'm sorry it's just that it's been so long." she said wiping her tears away.

"How are things?" he asked.

"It's a long story..." she said.

"I got time." he said as he smiled.

She told him everything that had happened since the fall of the empire and how she had been handling everything.

"Wow, who would've guessed my little Snips would grow up to be the youngest Grand Master in history!" Anakin cheered.

"Yeah, but can I ask you something?" she asked.

"What is it Snips?" He asked.

"Why'd you do it?" Ahsoka asked with saddened eyes and her head down.

"Ahsoka... After you left I blamed everyone for it, even Padme. I thought that if just a couple more people just trusted in you that you would've stayed. I became distant, an outsider. You, Padme, and Obi-wan were always the people I'd die to protect. When you left and disappeared I replaced that spot with the Chancellor. Needless to say you held the biggest part of my heart, you were a daughter to me. Padme knew this and said its natural for a father to love his daughter more than his wife. But anyways, I gave all the feelings I had for you to the Chancellor and willingly followed him so that I could protect those I cared about. But I was fooled, by the time I realized this Padme was gone and because of me Obi-wan was killed on Mustafar. I had no where else to turn so I turned to the emperor... Ashoka I had lost my first child, and then murdered my wife and best friend... But Luke and Leia are out there somewhere... I beg of you to find them and watch over them." he said.

"Anakin, you've done so much evil..." as she said this he worried she would decline.

"But it wasn't your fault, you were just heartbroken... And I think I speak for Padme, Obi-wan, your kids, and myself when I say I forgive you." Ahsoka said crying out of happiness.

"Ahsoka, thank you... You have no idea how much that means to me... To hear you say that..." he said.

"Just rest now master." she spoke as the sun started to come out.


	7. All Good Things

A Loving Hope Chronicles

The War of the Ancients

All Good Things

-Outside the Main Chamber-

"How is your fleet doing, human?" Thon Konar asked.

"Were ready for deployment, just awaiting the council's final order." Miranda said.

"Well, you'll be the first one's to be the spearhead of the Pax Alliance other than the UNSC. Take pride human, Armada Admiral Francis and the rest of the entire alliance deems your military ready to begin major deployment." Ooscoo said.

"Our troops are anxious to jump into the fight, besides I think the UNSC has been exhausting its efforts for far too long, they could use a break." Ashley spoke as she and Miranda talked with the Sangheili warriors.

"Luckily, we will be assisting you. The New Covenant will stand at our side as you take the fight to the NecroMongers." Ado Fulsam said.

-Inside the Main Chamber-

"Very well, so it's settled. The Systems Alliance will take the place of the UNSC and her components, the New Covenant will replace the RGAR and Sith Empire, the COG will remain where they are, and General Durge with his Droid armies will join in." Francis said.

"Agreed, the UNSC, RGAR and Sith Empire, and the Saints will have the opportunity to rest itself." Supreme Chancellor Angel said.

"So it's settled, Fleet Admiral Shepard have your fleets begin deployment." Francis ordered.

"Yes, sir." Shepard replied as he and his staff left the orbital station and went back I to their transport ship.

As the Council began dispersing, Francis and Gabby walked up to Brent and his presidential staff. Francis told them that as much as they tried to hide the fact that they had acquired the Zin Empire that he already knew.

"So I'm guessing you want us to help you fight in the war?" Brent asked.

"No, we have a much more important task for you and your military." Francis said.

"What do you need?" Viola asked.

"Something has happened..." Gabby's aid with much disdain in her facial expression.

"What's wrong?" Viola asked.

Gabby looked at Francis and the two of them nodded to each other.

"What's going on?" Brent asked.

"Is it about Hope?" Shaundi asked as she and the rest of the staff walked up to join the conversation.

"Reach has been inflicted with a zombie apocalypse. Our daughter is stuck on that planet... We would love to go there and rescue her but if the NecroMongers seeing of our ships head over there they'll invade." Francis said holding back tears.

"Don't worry, we'll get her out of there." Brent said.

"That's not all, the major roadblock is Hope, she refuses to leave until her grandmother is found." Gabby said.

"So basically, secure Hope, establish a perimeter clear of zombies, establish a base, and find your mother." Brent said.

"Can you do it?" Francis asked.

"I'll be taking my staff, secret service forces, SWAT teams, national guards, and STAG. Along with our armada of aliens." Brent said.

"And all the Saints' members." Gat said.

"Where's Holly?" Gabby asked.

They all looked around and finally found her, she has carrying a bunch of Krukovs and explosives. She began handing them out and then boarded their Condor.

"You guys coming or what?" she said looking so determined.

"Hold on, let me call someone down here." Francis said.

They all waited for Francis' contact and finally they came. Six ODSTs came down and stood at attention for Francis.

"Sir, you called for us?" the leader asked.

"You along with several Gladiators are to go with the Saints to clear Reach and rescue my daughter. This is a priority zero mission and failure is not an option. You will be supported with a contingent of UNSC personnel along with a few FreeLancer personnel. FreeLancer Connecticut is going to be in charge of all UNSC/ONI personnel and is thus your field general. President Brent is in charge of the entire operation, his orders are law. Good luck troops, bring home my daughter." Gabby said.

"Let's move." Brent said.

Finally they all got into their transport and left for their capital ship. Their fleet was extremely insignificant to the Alliance as a whole but the alliance took as many ships as it could. As Brent and his crew re-entered their capital the ship's captain asked for Brent's orders to which he responded to go to Reach. The captain obliged and the ship with its fleet and a battlegroup of ten UNSC ships entered hyperspace. Brent went up to his quarters and pulled out his signature STAG armor. He tossed the helmet aside and picked up a Saints modified Astro headset and wore it with the armor. He looked in the mirror and saw the man he thought he'd never have to see again.

"The armor suits you, but it can't hide your roots." Gat said.

"Nothing ever will." Brent said smiling a bit.

Gat was head of the military operations and thus wore the Future Soldier armor, although he opted for his shades over a actual helmet. Pierce, Josh, Zimos, and Angel all wore that same armor. Shaundi and all the other girls opted for the SpecOps armor set. Holly and Viola prefered to use the modern soldier armor in black albiet without the helmet and instead a Saints Astro headset and a black bandit bandana. Matt was the only other person who wore STAG armor and he wore it proudly.

"Listen Johnny, if I don't make it out of this one..." Brent started.

"But you will." he interrupted.

"Just promise me you'll look after the crew and the kid?" Brent asked.

"You didn't even have to ask. By the way Oleg rufused to wear the armor, said it didn't fit him." Gat said as he walked out.

-knock knock-

Brent heard knocking and allowed the person to come in. The person was actually Holly and Kiki. They seemed concerned about something but he couldn't figure out what it was. They stood there for a moment just staring at him. Finally, they spoke:

"How can you send your fiancé to a war? Don't you have a conscious?" Kiki scolded.

"You know your sister, once she sets her mind to it she's relentless." Brent said.

"Even so, you command a military powerful enough to defeat armies yet you can't stop a single woman?" Holly said.

"In all honesty, I wouldn't have any of you here yet here you are. It's easy to crush forces against you but its impossible to repel any of those who you care about." Brent said as he stared at Holly.

"..." they were speechless.

"Fine, let me try... You along with the rest of the staff are to board one of the transport ships and go to the RGAR planet of Couruscant... And that is an order, failure to comply will be treated as treason." Brent said.

"Good luck trying to find someone to keep me back." Viola said as she walked into the room and grabbed her pair of silenced pistol from the drawers.

"Listen, Viola, everyone wants what's best for you. Staying here will only get you killed." Kiki said as she tried to plead with her sister.

"Listen to your sister, you wouldn't be safe here." Holly said.

"Last I checked, I was older than you Holly. If anything you shouldn't be here." Viola retaliated.

"All of you shouldn't be here!" Brent screamed.

A lot of the presidential staff heard this and began walking into his room.

"None of of should be here... None of us have any proper training to take on an enemy like the NecroMongers. Fighting other gangs, militaries, hell even aliens but not those monsters... Have any of you seen what those things are capable of? One squad of those things, five of them, was able to destroy an army of hundreds! We have a hundred thousand troops in total, they have an armada. Armada Admiral Francis didn't say it to any of you but the NecroMongers are highly likely to invade Reach while were there. If even one warship slips through our fleet, one single ship, we will all die. We are all risking our lives." Brent said.

"Then why don't we leave?" Josh asked.

"We will risk our lives regardless, we have no control over that. But what we do have is the choice to choose what we risk it for... And right now the Pax Alliance is getting slaughtered trying to hold back the NecroMongers so we could rescue the one hope all life has, that little girl down there, Hope, is our only hope. She dies and the rest of humanity, the rest of all life, the rest of freedom and the entire universe goes with her. I don't know why any of you are here, but I know why I'm here, and it has nothing to do with survival of life, I came because only niece is down there and is surrounded by undead guys, I'm here to save my family. If you don't have a good reason for being here then leave, but if you do have a reason, if you can find even a sliver of a reason then stay and fight." Brent said as he grabbed his heavy SMGs.

"He has a point, that girl is our only hope... Besides I have my reason and he just walked out, so if you'll excuse me..." Viola said as she walked passed everyone.

"My niece is in trouble, and now so is my brother if he doesn't have any help... Viola wait up!" Holly said as she followed.

"Well, I got nothing else to do..." Kiki said.

Everyone else looked around and waited to see who the next person would be to make a decision.

"Once a Saint, always a Saint and last time I checked the Boss wouldn't have let me go on a suicide mission alone..." after saying this Gat walked off.

The remainder of people decided that what Gat had said was right, and they all left Brent's room and followed everyone else. When the last person arrived, Brent was staring at his fleet as it exited slip space and began approaching the planet.

"Zinjai have all division leaders report in." Brent said.

"Yes my liege." he said as he ordered another soldier to raise the other ships.

"Gunnery Sergeant Buck reporting in, ready to drop in our your word, sir."

"Agent Connecticut reporting, all Pelicans standing by and awaiting deployment."

"My liege, all units accounted for. What should they do?" Zinjai asked.

"Locate where Hope is first, then deploy our forces to secure that area's perimeter." Viola said.

"Yes, my lady." he replied.

"Good idea." Brent whispered.

Viola smiled at this and then, along with everyone else, walked out of the bridge and headed for the hanger to catch one of the first drop ships to land on Reach. Brent, Viola, and a squad of soldiers entered the closest Condor to them. Their Condor also carried a experimental Crusader with its crew inside. As it began entering the atmosphere, they heard the SOEIVs all around them. Brent told the pilot to hover above the area before dropping the tank off. As the pilot did this he told Brent to be careful because some zombies could use weapons. He looked and saw that there were some zombies wielding rocket launchers and warned the pilot that there were a few aiming at their ship, but he was too late.

"Were going down!" the pilot screamed.

"Try and get us down as close as you can to the building that Hope is in." Brent ordered.

As the pilot crashed the Condor, Brent took role call and was told that only three troops were killed. The pilot was badly wounded and had to be carried by two other troops. He looked at his gps and saw that he was two miles outside the perimeter. He tried to communicate with his other troops over their com-links but all he got was static. He looked at Viola and then at their surviving troops. They tried to come up with a plan but they were constantly disrupted by the banging on the downed ship from the zombies.

"Jesus Christ, zombies that can use guns, run, and take down paramilitary grade vehicles... Were fighting a war, not running a rescue op." one of the troops said.

"Only some of them can, according to Kinzie about fifteen percent can use weapons the other eighty-five are the stereotypical kind." Viola said as she loaded her shotgun.

"Well, were two miles away from the perimeter. It's about eighteen hundred hours so I suggest moving out while we still got some daylight. Besides, with com-links down I wouldn't want to be out here... Who knows what's out there." Brent said as he prepared to open the hatch.

-Back on the Infinity class Warship "Immortal"-

"How bad was that last skirmish?" Francis asked Scarlett.

"Are you sure you want to know?" she asked.

"Scarlett, how bad?" he asked again.

"(sigh) Nine-hundred Enforcer-class ships destroyed and two-hundred Retribution-class. NavCom has decided to send you replacements. I'll update your fleet roster." Scarlett said.

"How... How did we lose so many ships? Those were supposed to be humanity's top of the line ships... The culmination of all our strength, intelligence, and endurance... Nine-hundred ships destroyed by only three enemy ships..." Francis said in despair.

"Sir, with all due respect those ships were meant to engage the Bellus Alliance before the arrival of the NecroMongers. You need to understand they were literally made for war, and besides we took all three of those ships down and they were twice the size of the Immortal." Scarlett said.

"What's the ETA until our reinforcements arrive?" he asked as he plopped into his chair.

"ETA is about three hours." Scarlett said.

"Also aren't we supposed to let the Systems Alliance take some of the heat off us?" Scarlett added.

"The ships we lost today were enough to stand toe-to-toe with the entire UEG military and then some. Imagine how the Systems Alliance would've faired against those three ships." Francis said as he looked at his fleet roster.

3- Infinity class Ultra Super Heavy Capital Warship

15- Thermopylae class Ultra Super Heavy Cruiser

50- Pegasus class Super Carrier

100- Enforcer class Superior Dreadnought

200- Autumn class Heavy Cruiser

800- Dawn class Superior Destroyer

2400- Striker class Superior Frigate

4800- Retribution class Superior Corvette

132- Strident class Heavy Frigate

"Is this going to be enough? I mean the NecroMongers have tens of thousands of ships, we would need hundreds of millions of ships to combat them. And they have they trick where they make shadow copies of a ship. The odds are against us, and I have no idea how Hope is supposed to be the solution." Francis said angrily.

"Sir, incoming call from Hope. Shall I patch it through?" Scarlett asked.

"Yes." he said.

He turned to look at the monitor and saw his adorable nine year old daughter smiling. The very sight of her erased any malicious feelings he had earlier and he was overcome with joy.

"Hi daddy!" she spoke.

"Hi princess." he said happily.

"How's the fight going? Did you win? Are you coming home now?" she asked optimistically.

"Sorry sweetie, but no. The fight is going well though, were winning." Francis said forcing a fake smile.

"Okay, good job daddy. Oh Uncle Brent said he needed to talk to you." she said as she stood up and walked towards the door.

"Uncle Brent!" she screamed out her doorway.

"I'm right here, now could I talk to your daddy in private for a moment?" Brent asked.

"Sure, I wanted to go hang out with aunt Kiki and Viola." she said as she began to leave.

"Bye daddy, I love you." she said lastly.

"Bye sweetie, love you too." he said as the door shut.

"She misses you. A lot but she's doing a great job of hiding it." Brent said.

"Nonetheless, what did you need to talk about?" Francis asked.

"Reach is secure. We found the core of the outbreak and put a stop to it." Brent said.

"That's good, but what's the bad news?" Francis asked.

"Francis... I'm sorry to have to tell you but your mother died. When we found to source of the outbreak we found your mother's body only human enough to hold minimal control over herself. She made it a direct order that for the safety of Hope that we detonate the city. She asked for my pistol because no one obliged to shoot her and she said she was in so much pain. I'm sorry." Brent said.

"... I... Keep Hope safe at all cost." Francis ordered.

"I will." Brent replied.

"Does she know?" Francis asked trying to maintain his composure.

"How do you tell a little girl that her grandmother is dead?" Brent said.

"Send her in, I'll tell her. I hope your good at comforting..." Francis said.

Brent walked out and called for Hope. She walked back to her room and asked why her uncle called her. He told her that her father wanted to talk with her and she went into the room and shut the door.

"Yes daddy?" she asked.

"Daddy, why are you crying?" she added.

"Sweetie, daddy has some bad news..." he said sobbing.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Grandma Cathy passed away." Francis managed to say.

"..." Hope began to tear up.

"When uncle Brent got rid of the zombies they found grandma infected but still fighting it, she asked for someone to shoot her but no one did so she asked Brent for his pistol and killed herself before they detonated the building." Francis said.

"I... I need to go now, bye daddy I love you."

"Sweetie wa-"

She had shut off the computer and began to cry hysterically. Brent stood outside her door and the second he heard her crying he sent Viola and Holly to comfort her.

"It's okay sweetie." Viola said as she ran to give Hope a hug.

"Grandma is in a better place now." Holly said also trying to comfort the girl.

-Back on Francis' flagship, the Immortal-

Francis sat in his chair and hung his head silently crying and hoping none of his bridge crew would be looking at him. Before lifting he grabbed his helmet and then he looked up, he saw his entire bridge just staring at him. Even the Titans staioned on the bridge looked at him, no one had ever seen Francis so depressed and run down. he noticed that someone came up from behind him and he gave a slight turn in that direction.

"Sir, maybe it'd be best if you head to your quarters for some rest. Just a suggestion though, sir." his XO said before going to his quarters as suggested.

"And so begins our fall." Francis thought to himself as he left.


End file.
